Keywords: collaboration, integrated, AEC, building design, product model, internet, IFC.

The issue of communication between the parties involved in a construction project has been the subject of active research for many years. The construction industry has a long tradition of collaborative working between the members of the construction team. At the design stage, this has traditionally been based on physical meetings.

In today's global market, the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) operations are spreading around the world. New challenges are emerging constantly, which require global solutions for geographically distributed building design and construction. Due to the global nature of the current building construction and the evolving impact of IT on the design process, the AEC design project activities are continuously changing. These activities require support with communication, interaction, integration, design facilities, and shared up-to-date design specification. IT facilities such as the internet can potentially provide integrated collaboration environments satisfying these requirements.

Research into AEC collaborative work using internet technology has mainly been focused on sharing documentation data. The potential of the internet providing an integrated shared environment has not been fully explored. This study has evaluated over twenty-five commercial and non-commercial systems to identify whether integration, shared product data model, and real-time interaction, have been considered.

An electronic, integrated, shared, and web-based building product model enhances data exchange and facilitates the development of a collaborative process model. A solution as such through platform independency and remote real-time access to data models, will offer advantages to all parties involved in the design process. Implementing such a solution based on internet technology will provide the opportunity for a radically changed and much more efficient communication process.

This study conducts a possible approach by designing and implementing a COllaborative Design Environment (CODE) system. At the core of the CODE system is a database developed using Microsoft Access 2002, which is manipulated using Active Server Pages (ASP). The database encapsulates a subset of the Industrial Foundation Classes (IFC) object oriented model, and provides an added data structure thought necessary to manage design collaborative activities. The system enables collaboration through the use of real-time integrated and shared product models.

The CODE system has been evaluated by its potential users in a workshop. The participants evaluated the system through collaborating on the design of a multi-storey building in real-time. The system allowed for active human-centred collaboration. The participants experienced the use of synchronised and asynchronised methods of collaboration through web portals. The system confirmed that the Internet is a feasible and accessible technology for hosting multi-disciplinary and distributed collaborative design work.

This paper considers the shortcomings of the current state of the AEC design process and gives an overview of the design, implementation and evaluation of the CODE system.

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